Wednesday, October 17, 2012

As a Chicago SEO firm, we find ourselves constantly explaining the importance of producing quality content. The more relevant the content you produce, the more popular and relevant you are to consumers and the all important search engines. We've said it before and we'll say it again, search engine optimization relies heavily on content. Sometimes creating new, exciting, relevant content can become difficult. Similar to writer's block, you may experience challenges regarding putting out new content. So what do you do when the well of inspiration runs dry? Tap into the following tactics to help save yourself from running out of content ideas:

1- Join groups on LinkedIn: Looking for more blog fodder? Consider rummaging through posts from various working professionals on LinkedIn. A LinkedIn group hosts a plethora of different opinions that may spark an idea for fresh content. Seek out active groups related to your field. The best way to figure out whether a group is active or not is by the number of members and discussions there are. Being apart of groups related to your profession will also keep your knowledge of your field fresh.

2- Tag clouds: Perhaps you want to build fresh content around current and new keywords. Utilize social media and see what people are talking about. Search for conversations on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn that discuss your product, industry or brand. Drop the conversation into a tag cloud. Tag clouds pull up all the words most frequently used in the text you dropped in. This could give you new keywords to utilize and may help spawn new topic ideas.

3- Forums: Check out forums related to your industry. Open forums are a great way to discover what people are talking about in relation to your industry. Try it out! Go to Google and type in your industry and forum and see what pops up. Odds are you'll see millions of results appear. Take advantage of it.

4- Ask around: Post a status on your social media sites or blog asking for content topics or suggestions. This is a great way to figure out what others are looking for and usually, people want their voices to be heard. You could even go as far as to post a poll or survey directly on your page asking for feedback.

5- Events: Attending industry events is another great way to help generate topics for fresh content. Whether it's a webinar or conference, attending events is a great way to connect with other people in your industry to exchange ideas and knowledge. Look for events and topics related to your industry and start attending.

Looking for more tips on generating new content? Comment below or contact us.